The Yellow Brick Road Of Online Shopping

Online shopping began with the promise of making life easier, faster, and more convenient as a high-tech extension to enhance the in-person shopping experience. But in reality online shopping today is a digital storm of pop-ups, ads that follow us everywhere, and search results that feel out of control. In response, some shoppers have returned to brick-and-mortar stores for comfort and others only shop online for convenience, this cannot be what the pioneers of e-commerce had in mind.

It may feel like online shopping is headed down the wrong path, but innovation gives us the power to choose a new direction. When we step back, question the routines we’ve grown accustomed to, and look deeper into the online landscape, we begin to see possibilities the original pioneers may have envisioned. By reimagining how digital storefronts could work when they are guided by thoughtful design, intentional merchandising, and shopper-first logic, we uncover not only better ways to get the job done, but the true desires of online shoppers. 

At The Unforgettable Group (TUG), we are a team of retail, technology, and merchandising experts united by a single mission: to reshape the online shopping experience. We draw on decades of real-world retail knowledge, early e-commerce innovation, and modern digital tools to rebuild the shopping journey from the shopper’s point of view. Rather than forcing people to adapt to the limitations of existing platforms, we create environments that feel intuitive, curated, and inspired, places where online browsing is as engaging and meaningful as walking through a well-designed store. And just like any journey worth taking, the moment we recognize the opportunity to step off the well-worn road of online shopping and onto a brighter, more intuitive path, a whole new shopping experience begins to emerge: a ‘yellow brick road’ with discovery, clarity, and connection.

Long before the internet existed, there was a girl named Dorothy Gale who longed for color, connection, and adventure, knowing that there had to be something better over the rainbow.  Today’s e-commerce shoppers aren’t so different, isolated in a ‘colorless’ digital world, scrolling through a blur of products and promises that rarely deliver, longing for something better. Online shopping was supposed to be all knowing, provide instant access, and invigorate the shopper, but instead most are left overwhelmed, uninspired, and dreaming of what could be.

L. Frank Baum used his imagination to create a new land, allowing him to share his ideas about the world as he saw it. We’ve borrowed that creation to express how we see online shopping today and what it has the potential to become. The Wizard of Oz and its Yellow Brick Road take us on a journey where we examine the current state of online shopping, gain a deeper understanding of the online shopper, and are inspired to build a strong digital foundation that can transform the way shopping is done. A world where the shopper is the focus, technology enhances the experience, and there is magic in discovery.

At The Unforgettable Group, we believe it’s time to drop the house on the old ways of how we shop online and start over, just as Dorothy’s journey began when the farmhouse landed squarely on the Wicked Witch of the East. We are ready to make our mark redefining how online shopping is done and click our heels together as we head in a new direction down our yellow brick road.

The Wizard of Oz and the Online Shopping Journey

When we set out to change the way online shopping was done, it became clear that we had to go back to the beginning. Not the beginning of the internet, but the beginning of modern shopping itself. We had to describe, plainly and without hesitation, what is not working and articulate what online shopping could be if we stripped away the noise, the clutter, and the business-first technology that has overshadowed the shopper for far too long.

This is no small task. We are describing a virtual world that no one can truly see, one shaped by hidden algorithms, disjointed interfaces, mountains of search results, and a strange irreverence toward the human being doing the shopping. If a shopper walked into a retail store and black socks began flying toward them simply because they searched for them last week, they would click their ruby slippers and head straight for the exit. Yet online, we have come to accept these odd behaviors as normal. The expectations have shifted, not because shoppers asked for less, but because the digital world enticed them like magic, but offered them a very odd shopping path.

Our team has lived, built, and shaped retail for decades. We were there in the early days of mass retail, when merchandising meant walking the aisles, feeling the energy of the floor, listening to customers, and learning from the leaders who defined a generation of retail excellence. We witnessed the rise of the modern superstore, the evolution of giant malls, and the first hints of the e-commerce revolution that would change everything. And we didn’t just watch it happen. We were part of it. We grew up in it. We earned our understanding of what works, what doesn’t, and what gets lost when shopping becomes a series of clicks instead of a journey.

That experience matters, because it gives us the right and we think the responsibility to write about what comes next in the world of online shopping. We believe the soul of shopping has always been about discovery, delight, clarity, and connection. Somewhere along the way, that soul was overshadowed by systems built for transactions instead of people. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.

To rebuild the online shopping experience, we needed a new framework. Surprisingly we found the parallel with one of the most iconic journeys ever told. The Wizard of Oz is more than a story. It is a roadmap of challenges, companions, obstacles, shortcuts, illusions, and revelations. Just like the online shopping landscape, it is full of characters and forces that shape the traveler’s experience, for better or worse.

And so the Yellow Brick Road became our metaphor for reimagining the journey to a better way to shop online. Not as a nostalgic reference, but as a practical, relatable way to explain what shoppers face online and how we can make that journey better. Because when people understand the journey, they can see what needs to be fixed, what should be protected, and what can be transformed for the greater good of shoppers everywhere.

Now, as we begin exploring each element of the Wizard of Oz from the characters, , the challenges, the power, and the magic. We will take you on a journey where you will see just how uniquely it mirrors the online shopping world we navigate today, and how a new kind of road can lead us somewhere better.

To explore our 8 online shopper profiles keep reading.

As we continue the parallels of the Wizard of Oz, we now step into the minds of online shoppers to better understand how they think, how they search, and what they expect from a modern shopping experience. The moment we recognize that we are no longer in Kansas, we begin to see how many possibilities open up when the shopper, not the system, becomes the center of the journey.

Online retail began as an extension of brick-and-mortar stores, designed to reach new customers and drive sales with existing ones. What started as a simple revenue channel quickly evolved into its own world, shaped more by technology and transactions than by the actual needs of the shopper. Traditional data points like age, income, and location have long been used to label and segment people, but they tell only a fraction of the story. Real insight comes from how people think, feel, and behave when they shop online — the patterns that reveal their curiosity, their caution, their confidence, and the courage they need to make a decision.

When we look at shoppers through this lens, something powerful emerges: unique profiles that transcend demographics and instead reflect the true way a person navigates the digital marketplace. These profiles show how shoppers approach the search process, how much guidance they need, how deeply they research, and what helps them decide when it is time to buy. While all of us shift our behavior depending on what we are shopping for — especially when the purchase is expensive or emotionally meaningful — most of us have a dominant style that shapes how we move through the online world.

To bring these profiles to life, we continue our stroll down the Yellow Brick Road, allowing each character from Oz to represent a distinct shopper type. These characters beautifully mirror the diverse personalities and motivations we see every day: the shopper led by heart, the one who needs courage, the one who relies on research, the one who seeks guidance, the social shopper who loves the journey, and the minimalist who simply wants the task done. We created a short quiz to help shoppers discover where they fit, and to help us collect insights that deepen our understanding of how people shop online.

When you understand these profiles, the entire online experience becomes easier to shape. Navigation can be built with intention. Guidance can be offered where needed. Community can support those who find the digital journey confusing or overwhelming. The challenge — and the opportunity — is building an online shopping destination that welcomes all of these shoppers with clarity, creativity, and trust, instead of leaving them clicking their heels and hoping to land on the right page.

Get ready to explore the profiles we uncovered. As you discover your own and understand the others, you will gain an even greater appreciation for how powerful and enjoyable online shopping can become when the journey is designed for the shopper. You may want to take the survey first to see if we got it right — and then share it with a friend as we reshape the way the world shops online, one unforgettable experience at a time.

To explore our online shopping elements keep reading.

As we dive deeper into understanding the complex landscape of e-commerce and how the world shops online, it becomes clear that we need a better way to define its elements, environments, and pitfalls. The Wizard of Oz offers a brilliant parallel with a timeless story that mirrors the challenges, distractions, and moments of discovery that shape today’s online shopping journey.

Much like Dorothy’s adventure through Oz, the path to a better online shopping experience begins with disruption, a tornado that lifts us from what we know and drops us into a new world of possibilities. Removing the 'flying monkeys' of digital chaos, popup ads, fake reviews, endless follow up e-mails, and overwhelming choices that keep us from enjoying the journey. Through every twist and turn of the current online shopping landscape there are glimpses of brilliance leading us to an 'Emerald City Moment' where technology, creativity, and trust align to make shopping online feel magical again.

As Dorothy and her friends searched for a way home, we too are seeking to create an online shopping destination that feels personal, guided, and enjoyable. The truth is, the path to a better way to shop online has been here all along, we just needed to engage what retail has taught us and translate it to the online landscape. We’ve simply been following the wrong road, one paved with transactions instead of discovery.

When we finally realize that we are not in 'Kansas' anymore, we open our eyes to what’s possible. A smoother, more beautiful path emerges and a virtual destination begins to form that is dedicated to online shopping and discovery.  A destination that blends technology with human imagination, reduces the noise, removes the hurdles, and reintroduces the joy of exploration.